Why Leeds United must offer manager Garry Monk a new deal this summer

Leeds United have all but missed out on a Championship play-off place after a stuttering end to the season.

Garry Monk’s men were well lodged inside the top six after a 2-0 victory over top toppers Brighton back on March 18, but just one victory in seven games since then coupled with four defeats has seen them slip out of the play-off places.

It means that the Yorkshire outfit are three points behind sixth place Fulham going into the final day of the season on Sunday, yet with their goal difference 13 worse than Slavisa Jokanovic’s Cottagers, their race is pretty much run.

And that will be hugely frustrating for Monk, his players, and the fans in what has overall been an encouraging campaign at Elland Road, yet recent reports suggest that the club’s failure to secure a top six place could signal the end of manager Monk.

The 38-year-old is reportedly set for the axe after seeing his side throw away a great position mid-March to finish outside of the top six, indicative of the growing and perhaps unrealistic expectations that have arisen after a solid Championship campaign.

Yet for Monk to be in danger of losing his job seems remarkable given the job he has done at Elland Road, even if they do indeed miss out on a top six finish.

The former Swansea boss came in last summer following the departure of Steve Evans, who was the seventh manager employed by owner Massimo Cellino since he took over the Yorkshire club back in 2014, just three years ago.

Monk made it number eight and almost became the eighth to leave following a poor start to the season which saw his Leeds side lose four of their first six league matches, and sit just a place outside of the bottom three.

However, since that disappointing start, the 38-year-old has brought much-needed stability to a club that has, quite simply, been all over the place in the last few years, with a run of 16 wins in 23 matches propelling them up to the dizzy heights of the play-off places.

And they even threatened to dispose Brighton and Newcastle from an automatic promotion spot at one stage to further underline the incredible work Monk has done turning this side from one languishing in mid-table to one fighting for a return to the Premier League.

He has helped make Elland Road a fortress again following several years of teams going there with little fear and picking up victories – last season Leeds won just seven times at home, this term their tally is 14.

And with the Englishman set to lead the club to their best league finish since Simon Grayson’s men also finished seventh back in the 2010/11 campaign, it demonstrates what an excellent job he has done, even if the failure to finish in the top six is a disappointment.

But that disappointment should not and cannot overshadow what has arguably been Leeds’ best season in many a year, and what demonstrates that the most is the fact that people are now talking about Leeds for what they are doing on the pitch, as opposed to what is happening off it.

And that is testament to the stability Monk has been able to bring in at Elland Road this term – there’s little surprise that, once he got his feet through the door (endured a testing first few weeks), he has improved this Leeds team (it’s amazing what some stability can do).

And it’s this sort of stability that many people feel Leeds need to get back to the Premier League for the first time since 2004.

Yes, failing to reach the play-offs is a disappointment, given their position in those places for much of 2017, but that shouldn’t cast a shadow what has been a significant improvement at Leeds this term, and one that, with the same manager, could result in promotion over the coming seasons.